QC Approvals: zdrup15, PK Gaming, Pocket
GP Approvals: sirndpt, Jellicent
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Close Combat / Sacred Sword
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Taunt / Roar
move 4: Thunder Wave / Toxic
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With the physical bulk of Dialga, the Iron Will Pokemon aims to not only set itself apart from his Musketeer brothers, Virizion and Terrakion, but from all other Fighting- and Steel-types in the tier. Among the attacks he comfortably sponges include a Close Combat from Terrakion and Sand Force-boosted Earthquake from Landorus, which both deal a maximum of 75% damage. Most importantly, Cobalion is only 3HKOed by a +1 Dragonite's Fire Punch, letting Cobalion inflict status, attack it with Hidden Power Ice, or Roar away the dragon. Fighting STAB makes Cobalion very different from his Steel-type brethren, such as Skarmory and Bronzong, who often find themselves walled by the common Tyranitar and Ferrothorn. Close Combat gives Cobalion much-needed power and make up for his relatively low Attack stat. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of his defenses, so it should be saved for when it's needed and not thrown out wildly. Sacred Sword, on the other hand, has significantly less power but it doesn't cut Cobalion's defenses upon use. Due to his above average base 90 Special Attack, even with a hindering nature, Cobalion's Hidden Power Ice allows him to combat Landorus and Gliscor, the latter of which is able to wall most other Steel-types in OU. Due to Cobalion's fantastic natural Speed, Taunt prevents a plethora of slower Pokemon, namely Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Gyarados, and Breloom, from setting up and makes them much less threatening to Cobalion. While he faces competition from Skarmory, Cobalion can make great use of Roar especially with his ability to sponge hits from the ever-popular Dragonite. Roar also works hand in hand with Thunder Wave, which can cripple sweepers and walls alike, rubbing salt in the wounds of Pokemon that fall for Cobalion's Taunt or get dragged out by his Roar. Due to Cobalion scaring away Steel-types with his STAB Fighting-type moves, Toxic is great for spreading harmful status and hurting Jellicent in particular.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Impish nature is no mistake. The Special Attack drop does not deprive Hidden Power Ice of any significant KOs, but the Speed drop from a Relaxed nature would make Cobalion slower than uninvested Celebi and Jirachi with no Speed EVs, while Impish lets him outspeed said Pokemon. Safeguard can protect not only Cobalion, but his entire team from Jellicent's Scalds and Will-O-Wisps, turning the jellyfish into setup bait for any Pokemon. Of course it's not all flowers and sunshine for the Iron Will Pokemon; his lack of recovery is glaring. Luckily, Leftovers do the job just fine due to his x4 resistance to Stealth Rock and immunity to sand and poison damage. He takes a hit, then gets a couple turns of Leftovers before he's forced out, so he certainly has more longevity than anyone would expect. An alternative spread of 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe gives Cobalion the ability to out-speed the popular Swords Dance Lucario. However, if using this spread, rain support from Drizzle Politoed will be necessary to make sure +1 Dragonite can't 2HKO with Fire Punch.</p>
<p>Jellicent and Politoed, as well as most other bulky Water-types, threaten Cobalion with a potential burn from Scald. Rotom-W is faster than Cobalion and can inflict burn or cripple Cobalion with Tricked Choice items while taking little from Close Combat. Most Ghost- and Psychic-types give Cobalion a lot of grief as many of the faster Pokemon carry Substitute to block status and take very little from Hidden Power Ice. Heatran is not a big issue as Cobalion's Fighting typing scares it off, but if the opponent catches on to Cobalion's set and gets bold with Heatran, Cobalion could be in trouble as he doesn't have the best Attack stat and will always fall short of OHKOing Heatran by 20 to 30 percent. Ninetales and other special attacking Fire-types are huge threats to Cobalion. However, just about all physical Fire-type attackers, with the exception of Darmanitan, are unable to KO Cobalion. There are only two Pokemon that cover all of Cobalion's problems; Latios and Latias. They resist Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type moves, and also sponge Psychic-type hits thrown at him. In return, Cobalion stops Dark-types cold in their tracks even getting an Attack boost thanks to Justified, as well as pouting quite a bit of intimidation on Tyranitar, making him a little more hesitant to take advantage of the twins. However, if the Lati twins aren't your style, Drizzle support is highly recommended as it rids Cobalion of his Fire-type weakness, which is the most significant of the three weaknesses he has, as Fighting- and Ground-type moves generally target his higher Defense. With no Fire-type weakness to worry about, the types of Pokemon that can defend Cobalion expands exponentially to include Celebi, Levitating Psychic- and Ghost-types, and many Flying-types. While not completely necessary, Wish passers such as Latias are welcome as any extra recovery for Cobalion is certainly appreciated.</p>
GP Approvals: sirndpt, Jellicent
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Close Combat / Sacred Sword
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Taunt / Roar
move 4: Thunder Wave / Toxic
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With the physical bulk of Dialga, the Iron Will Pokemon aims to not only set itself apart from his Musketeer brothers, Virizion and Terrakion, but from all other Fighting- and Steel-types in the tier. Among the attacks he comfortably sponges include a Close Combat from Terrakion and Sand Force-boosted Earthquake from Landorus, which both deal a maximum of 75% damage. Most importantly, Cobalion is only 3HKOed by a +1 Dragonite's Fire Punch, letting Cobalion inflict status, attack it with Hidden Power Ice, or Roar away the dragon. Fighting STAB makes Cobalion very different from his Steel-type brethren, such as Skarmory and Bronzong, who often find themselves walled by the common Tyranitar and Ferrothorn. Close Combat gives Cobalion much-needed power and make up for his relatively low Attack stat. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of his defenses, so it should be saved for when it's needed and not thrown out wildly. Sacred Sword, on the other hand, has significantly less power but it doesn't cut Cobalion's defenses upon use. Due to his above average base 90 Special Attack, even with a hindering nature, Cobalion's Hidden Power Ice allows him to combat Landorus and Gliscor, the latter of which is able to wall most other Steel-types in OU. Due to Cobalion's fantastic natural Speed, Taunt prevents a plethora of slower Pokemon, namely Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Gyarados, and Breloom, from setting up and makes them much less threatening to Cobalion. While he faces competition from Skarmory, Cobalion can make great use of Roar especially with his ability to sponge hits from the ever-popular Dragonite. Roar also works hand in hand with Thunder Wave, which can cripple sweepers and walls alike, rubbing salt in the wounds of Pokemon that fall for Cobalion's Taunt or get dragged out by his Roar. Due to Cobalion scaring away Steel-types with his STAB Fighting-type moves, Toxic is great for spreading harmful status and hurting Jellicent in particular.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Impish nature is no mistake. The Special Attack drop does not deprive Hidden Power Ice of any significant KOs, but the Speed drop from a Relaxed nature would make Cobalion slower than uninvested Celebi and Jirachi with no Speed EVs, while Impish lets him outspeed said Pokemon. Safeguard can protect not only Cobalion, but his entire team from Jellicent's Scalds and Will-O-Wisps, turning the jellyfish into setup bait for any Pokemon. Of course it's not all flowers and sunshine for the Iron Will Pokemon; his lack of recovery is glaring. Luckily, Leftovers do the job just fine due to his x4 resistance to Stealth Rock and immunity to sand and poison damage. He takes a hit, then gets a couple turns of Leftovers before he's forced out, so he certainly has more longevity than anyone would expect. An alternative spread of 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe gives Cobalion the ability to out-speed the popular Swords Dance Lucario. However, if using this spread, rain support from Drizzle Politoed will be necessary to make sure +1 Dragonite can't 2HKO with Fire Punch.</p>
<p>Jellicent and Politoed, as well as most other bulky Water-types, threaten Cobalion with a potential burn from Scald. Rotom-W is faster than Cobalion and can inflict burn or cripple Cobalion with Tricked Choice items while taking little from Close Combat. Most Ghost- and Psychic-types give Cobalion a lot of grief as many of the faster Pokemon carry Substitute to block status and take very little from Hidden Power Ice. Heatran is not a big issue as Cobalion's Fighting typing scares it off, but if the opponent catches on to Cobalion's set and gets bold with Heatran, Cobalion could be in trouble as he doesn't have the best Attack stat and will always fall short of OHKOing Heatran by 20 to 30 percent. Ninetales and other special attacking Fire-types are huge threats to Cobalion. However, just about all physical Fire-type attackers, with the exception of Darmanitan, are unable to KO Cobalion. There are only two Pokemon that cover all of Cobalion's problems; Latios and Latias. They resist Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type moves, and also sponge Psychic-type hits thrown at him. In return, Cobalion stops Dark-types cold in their tracks even getting an Attack boost thanks to Justified, as well as pouting quite a bit of intimidation on Tyranitar, making him a little more hesitant to take advantage of the twins. However, if the Lati twins aren't your style, Drizzle support is highly recommended as it rids Cobalion of his Fire-type weakness, which is the most significant of the three weaknesses he has, as Fighting- and Ground-type moves generally target his higher Defense. With no Fire-type weakness to worry about, the types of Pokemon that can defend Cobalion expands exponentially to include Celebi, Levitating Psychic- and Ghost-types, and many Flying-types. While not completely necessary, Wish passers such as Latias are welcome as any extra recovery for Cobalion is certainly appreciated.</p>
